Train Valentine and Envelope

Hello, everyone! Before I share today's card, I would like to extend a warm welcome to my lovely new follower - Margaret - thank you for joining me!

Today I've made Brian's Valentine card!  He loves trains so I found this adorable freebie retro Valentine image at Old Design Shop (thank you, Julie!).  I fell in love with it - it reminds me of my childhood, like the Valentines I would receive in elementary school. So I turned it into a card with all kinds of added goodies!  I tried to keep it masculine, so hard for me!

The patterned paper is a freebie this month from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage and I inked the edges with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and mounted on black cardstock.  Of course I had to include some kitties, so the first one is a Purr-ority Post stamp from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Party Cats set and I inked around the edges with distress ink.  The second kitty is Poppystamps Walking Cat, which I die cut twice, in turquoise and black, to create a shadow effect.  I did the same with Poppystamps Simple Banner, which I believe is retired now. 

I added lots of other fun vintage images. The Love bingo card is from Designs by Denise and was a freebie at one point.  The fun Valentine's Day tickets were a freebie from Papercrafts, and the postcard was a freebie from Vintage Field and Garden.  For embellishments, I added a heart-shaped paper clip; a heart button; butterfly, lock, and key charms; and a bow made from embroidery floss.

As an added bonus, I made a matching envelope!  This is also a freebie at Old Design Shop (thank you, Julie!).  I added the same Purr-ority Post stamp from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Party Cats, this time printed in blue.  I stamped some wood-mounted stamps in black, and I'll add the to/from details later.  

I would like to support these fun challenges:
Allsorts Love is All Around 1/3
Artistic Inspirations AG with Twist of Hearts UE
Brown Sugar AG 2/2
Buckwell's Crafty Challenge Love/Red 2/3
Bunny Zoe's Hearts UE
Butterfly Challenge V is for Valentine 3/3
Card Mania Add Some Red 2/3
Craft Your Passion AG 3/3
Crafts 4 Eternity With Love 2/3
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper February UE
Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage February Linky Party
Creative Fingers AG 2/3
Creative Inspirations Love is in the Air UE
Cute Card Thursday Crazy in Love UE
Cuttin' and Stampin' Masculine 1/3
Cuttlebug Mania I Heart You 3/3
Dies R Us Hearts 3/3
DL.ART February Linky AG UE 1/day
Dragonfly Dreams Love is in the Air UE
Fussy and Fancy It's All About Love UE
Inspiration Destination AG UE
Inspiration Journal Love is in the Air UE
Inspired by Stamping (hearts theme) UE

Kitty Bee Valentines/Love 1/2
Love to Scrap Love is in the Air 3/3
Loves Rubberstamps AG UE
Lunagirl Moonbeams Vintage Red 1/3
My Craft Creations Feb.2-14 AG UE
Natalie and Amy's All about the Love 3/3
Not Just Cards AG UE
Papertake Weekly AG 4/5
Party Time Tuesday AG 3/3
{PIN}spirational Photo Inspiration (I was inspired by the heart theme) 3/5

Poppystamps February My Love UE
Scrap and Craft  Valentines/Love/Romance 2/3
Scribble and Scrap AG 3/3
Send a Smile 4 Kids For the Boys 1/3
Simon Says Stamp Monday H is for... Heart 2/5
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday All Things Bright and Beautiful 2/5
Sister Act (Cards Only) AG UE
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' AG Add Something with Wings (butterfly) UE
The Pink Elephant Inspiration Photo (inspired by the banner) UE

Wags n Whiskers For Someone You Love 1/2
Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 3/5
Your Scrapbook Place AG Optional Masculine 2/3

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Happy Anniversary Tigers (Deedee's Digis image)

Hello, everybody!  A very warm welcome to my newest follower - htondre - thank you for joining me!  I'm back again today with another CAS card. I'm being very quiet in my craftroom while Brian sleeps. He has started working shift work again.

This card features the February Digi of the Month from Deedee's Digis called Forever Friends.  I played last month so I received this month's set for free!  As soon as I saw these tigers, I knew I wanted to make an anniversary card!

I fell in love with the sketch over at The Crooked Stamper, and this is my second submission. 

Strips of washi tape were added on both edges of the card to mimic the sketch. Does anyone else have a collection (okay, hoard) of washi tape? I'm always looking for fun ways to use it and I thought the tape was perfect for this image!  

I stamped a sentiment from Hero Arts and added a number of black gems to finish it off.  I'm joining the Anniversary challenge over at The Paper Girls as well. 

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Somebunny Special (Gerda Steiner image)

Hello, everyone!  I'm back again today, this time with a CAS card.  I was inspired by a few challenges - so what else is new, right!

The cute bunny is from Gerda Steiner Designs and it's this month's progressive challenge image. Since I played last month, I received this cutie for free.  I coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils.

I found a fun new sketch challenge over at The Crooked Stamper. Their logo features a cat, so you know I couldn't resist! Plus I really love their sketch (shown below).

CAS-ual Fridays is having a watercolour challenge so this inspired me to play with water!  First I created a mask using my Nellie's Multiframe Rectangles and then I used water with Distress Inks to create a background inside the mask.  I used Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, and Shabby Shutters, using a wide brush. It's the first time I've tried this technique, and I was hoping the colours would be a bit darker, but they are what they are, and I like the muted effect created by the water.  For a little interest I added three sequins.
.

I should add that the sentiment is from My Creative Time, watercolour paper is from Canson, and the cardstock is Stampin' Up.  

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Mailbox Kitties (ITDK image)

Hi, everyone! Before I share today's card, I would like to welcome my lovely new follower - Princess Judy - so happy to have you here!

Today I'm joining the progressive challenge over at Imagine That...digis by Kris. I received this month's digi set for free because I played along last month.  So glad I did because the February image is the adorable Mailbox Kitties - and you all know how I love kitties!  These sweet kitties have found a love letter/Valentine in their mailbox!

I coloured the image with my Prismacolor pencils, inked the edges with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, and mounted on brown cardstock.  I really had fun making this card!  I added a gazillion die cuts, mostly Cheery Lynn Designs!  They are having an Add a Flourish challenge over at Cheery Lynn this week and I wanted to play along!  Here's a list of die cuts used; I didn't have any Cheery Lynn flourishes so I used the other brands shown below:

Cheery Lynn Dancing Doily Lace Border - DL134
Cheery Lynn Build a Flower 1 - B181
Cheery Lynn Siena Double Edge Border - B373
Cheery Lynn Mini Butterflies with Angel Wings - D138
Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Deco B - B162
Cheery Lynn Dragonfly Small with Angel Wings - DL152
Cheery Lynn Ivy Strip - B304
Memory Box Quinn Flourish
MFT Die-Namics Medium Fancy Flourish

The patterned paper is from MME Love Me 6x6 pad and I inked around the edges with Distress Ink and mounted on brown cardstock. I inked the petals of the large flower with Barn Door Distress Ink. The centres of the flowers are red brads.  The ticket sentiment is from Digital Delights.  I added a few other embellishments: three large heart-shaped gems; turquoise gems on the dragonfly; and a heart-shaped charm that says "made with love," tied with twine.

I would like to support these fun challenges:
Artistic Inspirations AG with Twist of Hearts UE
Brown Sugar AG 1/2
Buckwell's Crafty Challenge Love/Red 1/3
Bunny Zoe's Hearts UE 
Butterfly Challenge V is for Valentine 2/3
Card Mania Add Some Red 1/3
Cheery Lynn Add a Flourish 1E
Craft Your Passion AG 2/3
Crafts 4 Eternity With Love 1/3
Craftin Desert Diva's Red, White, Pink UE
Crafty Gals Corner Pinkalicious 1/2
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper February UE
Crafty Sentiments Include a Heart 2/3 
Creative Fingers AG 1/3
Creative Inspirations Love is in the Air UE
Cute Card Thursday Crazy in Love UE
Cuttlebug Mania I Heart You 2/3
Dies R Us Hearts 2/3 
Di's Digi Designs Include a Heart(s) 2/3 

DL.ART February Linky AG UE 1/day
Dragonfly Dreams Love is in the Air UE
Dragons Lair Designs Hearts and Flowers 1E

RANDOM WINNER Emerald Faeries All You Need is Love 2/3 
Fussy and Fancy It's All About Love UE
Great Impressions Love, Love Love 2/3 
HIMCR Freestyle 3/3
Imagine That...digis by Kris Mailbox Kitties 1E
Inspiration Destination AG UE
Inspiration Journal Love is in the Air UE
Inspired by Stamping (hearts theme/colour inspiration) UE

Just Inspirational Challenges February Love 2/3
Love to Scrap Love is in the Air 2/3 
Loves Rubberstamps AG UE
My Craft Creations Feb.2-14 AG UE
Natalie and Amy's All about the Love 2/3 
Not Just Cards AG UE
One Sweet Challenge All About Love UE
Papertake Weekly AG 2/5
Party Time Tuesday AG 2/3
Penny's Paper-Crafty Favourite Technique (colouring with Prisma pencils) 1/3
{PIN}spirational Photo Inspiration (I was inspired by the heart/love theme) 2/5 

Pixie's Snippet Playground All die cuts made from snippets 3/3
Scrap and Craft  Valentines/Love/Romance 1/3
Scrapy Land AG 1/3 (Cheery Lynn dies sold at Scrapy Land)
Scribble and Scrap AG 2/3
Simon Says Stamp Monday H is for... Heart 1/5 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday All Things Bright and Beautiful 1/5
Sister Act (Cards Only) AG UE
Stamp and Create All You Need is Love 1E/wk 2/4
Sweet Stampin' Love 2/2 
The Paper Girls Love/Anniversary 2/3 
The Pink Elephant Inspiration Photo UE

The Shabby Tea Room I Heart You Photo Inspiration UE

V's Sweet Ideas Red, White or Pink 2/2
Your Scrapbook Place AG Optional Masculine 1/3
Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 2/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Sweet Elephant Valentine (Just Some Lines image)

Hello, everyone!  I have a Valentine card to share today.  I chose an adorable image called Sweet Elephant from Just Some Lines.  I paper-pieced it with paper from MME (Indie Chic Saffron 6x6 pad), fussy-cut, and coloured the flower, eyes, and mouth with Tombow markers.  I added a tiny heart gem on the flower.

The papers used on my card are from Momenta.  I die-cut three hearts using my Spellbinders Classic Hearts and added a heart gem and a beautiful pink butterfly that I received in a RAK from my friend Gail (thank you - I've been hoarding your RAK goodies too long - I want to use them!).  The sentiment is a wood-mounted stamp from Anita's and I stamped it on vellum, coloured the heart, and hand-cut into a banner.

My design was inspired by the sketch over at Your Next Stamp (see below).  I finished off my card with 3 tiny heart gems at the upper left corner.

I would like to support these fun challenges:
Bunny Zoe's Hearts UE
Butterfly Challenge V is for Valentine 1/3
Cosmic Colours #10 Use at least 3 colours from swatch UE

CRAFT Valentine's Day/Love 1/5
Craft Your Passion AG 1/3
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper February UE
Crafty Sentiments Include a Heart 1/3
Creative Fingers AG 2/3
Cute Card Thursday Stamping Mad UE
Cuttlebug Mania I Heart You 1/3
Dies R Us Hearts 1/3
Di's Digi Designs Include a Heart(s) 1/3

DL.ART Thankful Thursday Valentine's 3/3

DL.ART February Linky AG UE 1/day

Dragonfly Dreams Love is in the Air UE

Emerald Faeries All You Need is Love 1/3
Great Impressions Love, Love Love 1/3

HIMCR Freestyle 2/3

Inspired by Stamping (hearts theme) UE

RANDOM WINNER Just Inspirational Challenges February Love 1/3
RANDOM WINNER Just Some Lines facebook page It's all about Love 1E
Love to Scrap Love is in the Air 1/3
Loves Rubberstamps AG UE
My Craft Creations Feb.2-14 AG UE
Natalie and Amy's All about the Love 1/3
Not Just Cards AG UE
Papertake Weekly AG 1/5
Party Time Tuesday AG 1/3
Penny's Paper Crafty AG 2/3
{PIN}spirational Photo Inspiration (I was inspired by the heart) 1/5

Pixie's Snippet Playground Except for the larger panel of dp, the rest is from leftover snippets 2/3
Scribble and Scrap AG 1/3
Simon Says Stamp Monday H is for... Heart 1/5
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 2/5
Sister Act (Cards Only) AG UE
Stamp and Create All You Need is Love 1E/wk 1/4
Sweet Stampin' Love 1/2
Sweet Stamps Blog Love is in the Air 1E
The Paper Girls Love/Anniversary 1/3
The Shabby Tea Room I Heart You Photo Inspiration UE

Time Out Valentine's Day Optional Twist use Hearts UE
V's Sweet Ideas Red, White or Pink 1/2
Winter Wonderland Lots of Layers 2/3
Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 1/5
Your Next Stamp Sketch Challenge 1/3



Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Glitter n Sparkle DT - Anything Goes

Hi, everyone!  It's Sunday, and that means there's a new challenge starting today over at Glitter n Sparkle Challenge Blog! This week our theme is everyone's favourite - Anything Goes!  I hope you can join us! I chose this beautiful wreath from Pattie's Creations called Christmas Wreath 2014. I coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut all around, including the middle.

I was inspired by the style of Kittie Caracciolo and created a scene with die cuts to show off my Christmas wreath.  I love how it turned out!  I always use my leftover snippets to make my die cuts - it's a great way to use up scraps.

The background panel was embossed with Tim Holtz Alterations Bricked.  The door, fence, icicle border, and kitty are from Impression Obsession.  The trees are from Your Next Stamp, and I crimped them with my Fiskars wavy crimper and added white Flower Soft to simulate snow.  I hand-cut the snowy landscape in front and crimped it as well.  I added loose white glitter to the icicle border.  For the door knob, I used a clear gem.  I added a few tabby stripes on the kitty - this is the first time I've tried this.  I wanted him to look like one of my boys, although they don't go outdoors LOL.

Please come over and join us at Glitter n Sparkle for our Anything Goes challenge. We have some fabulous prizes up for grabs again this week, so I hope you'll play along!

I would like to support these fun challenges:
Completely Christmas AG Square or Rectangular Card UE
Craft Your Passion AG 2/3
Crafty Gals Corner Try Something New (added tabby stripes to die-cut cat) 1/2
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Beginning with B - brick background UE
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra February AG UE
Creative Fingers AG 1/3
DL.ART February Linky AG UE 1/day
HIMCR Freestyle 1/3
TOP PICK Holly Jolly Christmas Lots of Sparkle (glittery icicle border and gem door knob)
Little Scrap Pieces Show it Off Saturday 1E

Not Just Cards AG UE

WINNER Pattie's Creations Fun in the Snow 1/2
Penny's Paper Crafty AG 1/3
{PIN}spirational Inspiration Photo (I was inspired by the winter theme) 2/5
Pixie's Snippet Playground All die cuts made from leftover snippets 1/3
TOP SCRIBBLER Scribbles Designs Winter Wonderland 1/3
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 1/5
Sister Act (Cards Only) AG UE
HONOURABLE MENTION Sparkle N Sprinkle AG with Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder and/or Flocking UE
The 12 Months of Christmas Link-up February AG Optional UE
The Pink Elephant AG UE
Top Tip Tuesday Something New (new items are embossing folder, trees, and digi image) (TIP) 2/3 
Tuesday Throwdown Facets for Crafting (used gem for door knob) 1/3
Winter Wonderland Lots of Layers 1/3

Here's my tip for Top Tip Tuesday:  When fussy-cutting a stamped image directly on the black outline, use a black marker around the edges to hide the white edge of the cardstock, resulting in a more finished look.  

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!